Apron



March 3, 1953 H. A. GREENE APRON Filed Aug. 10, "1950 FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

NE EE. won 6 A T R E V. m4 H 0 Z w 4 4 w f //M /M 0 3 3 flv 4 5 4 2 2 2 WI ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an apron and more particularly to the type of apron commonly employed in industry and for domestic work.

Industrial aprons of the type to which this invention relates are frequently equipped adjacent their lower edges with a row of separable fasteners so that when occasion requires, the lower edge of the apron may be turned up and fastened by the fasteners to form a trough for catching and collecting liquids or other matter which may be deposited on the surface of the apron. Heretofore it has been customary to permit the contents of the trough to drain through opposite ends thereof at the sides of the apron and under certain circumstances such drainage has been found to be objectionable.

The primary object of this invention is to releasably close opposite ends of the trough Of an apron of the type to which this invention relates so that drainage of the contents of the trough will be directly under the control of the user.

Another object is to enable the ends of the drainage trough of an apron to be closed Without noticeably increasing the cost of production of the apron or providing extraneous closures.

Among its features the invention embodies forming in the apron adjacent opposite side edges thereof and in the space between the separable fasteners adjacent opposite ends of an apron of the type to which this invention relates spaced openings for the reception of the male portion of the adjacent snap fastener and folding the portion of the apron immediately adjacent the separable fasteners inwardly to form an end closure for the trough.

Other features include folding the portion of the apron between the endmost separable fasteners of the trough thereof in such a manner that it may be readily opened to permit the contents of the trough to drain from the ends thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of an apron embodying the features of this invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 2--2 of Figure 1 illustrating the manner in which the trough is formed along the bottom edge of the apron,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary face view of one lower corner of the apron illustrated in Figure l, and

Figure 5 is an end view on an enlarged scale illustrating the device partially folded to form the end closure for the trough.

Referring to the drawings in detail an apron designated generally l0 comprises a main body portion 12 having a conventional bib [4 and attaching straps l6 which are connected to the bib H by conventional separable fasteners l8 and are passed through grommets 20 formed in the body I 2 adjacent its junction with the bib [4 to be tied around the waist of the user.

Carried by the apron adjacent its lower edge is a horizontal row of female members 22 of separable fasteners which cooperate with a horizontal row of male members 24 of separable fasteners which are spaced upwardly from the lower edge of the apron so that when the fasteners are joined together a trough 26 will be formed adjacent the lower edge of the apron. In order to form the trough 26 the material of the apron between the male and female members 24 and 22 of the separable fasteners is folded along a fold line 28. The subject matter so far described is conventional with aprons of the type commonly employed in industry.

In order to prevent the discharge of material accumulated in the trough 26 from opposite ends thereof on opposite sides of the apron I0 I form in the portion of the body l2 of the apron between the endmost separable fasteners 22 and 24 and the opposite side edges of the apron spaced openings 30 and 32 which are of a size to receive the stud 34 of the adjacent male member 24. These openings 30 and 32 are also closer to the fold line 28 than the female and male members 22 and 24 of the separable fasteners so that when the apron body I2 is folded along the diagonal fold lines 36 and 38, and inwardly along the fold line 28, the stud 34 may be passed through the openings 30 and 32 as suggested in Figure 3 so that when the panels 40 and 42 are folded inwardly against the body portion [2 of the apron ill a dam Or end closure will be formed at the end of the trough 26. Obviously if both ends of the trough are closed in the same manner the escape of material collected in the trough will be avoided until such time as the user separates the parts of the separable fasteners adjacent opposite ends of the trough and unfolds the panels 40 and 42. In this way the discharge of the contents of the trough is directly under the control of the user at all times and the scattering of debris or spattering of liquids can be avoided.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred form of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

An apron of the character described comprising a sheet of waterproof material having a top portion and a bottom edge, means at the top portion for securing the apron to the person of a wearer, the apron having straight side edges joining the bottom edge in a right angle, a portion of the apron sheet at the bottom being turned up on a transverse fold line to form a trough and the sheet at each end of the trough being infolded on two lines diverging from the transverse fold line to the adjacent side edge with the material between said divergent lines reversely folded on 1,,

the first stated fold line forming a closure wall for each end of the trough, the ends of the trough being angled upwardly and outwardly by said 4 infolds, and a fastening element passing through the sheet material at the front and back of the trough and through the interposed infolded portions and securing the parts together to maintain 5 the ends of the trough closed.

HERBERT A. GREENE.

REFERENCES CITED 10 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 563,644 Birney July '7, 1896 1,131,135 Hudson Mar. 9, 1915 1,846,593 Hartmann Feb. 23, 1932 2,473,740 Welch June 21, 1949 

